- 2019 Jan 24
Diana Athill Dies at 101
The writer and editor won acclaim for her work with such authors as Margaret Atwood and V.S. Naipaul and for the sharp insights of her own books.
- 2019 Jan 22
Jack Stoddart Dies at 74
The staunch Canadian nationalist and one of the drivers of that nation's publishing during the 1980s and '90s has died.
- 2019 Jan 04
Edgar Hilsenrath Dies at 92
The survivor of Nazi persecution, who wrote brutally satirical autobiographical novels about the Holocaust, died on Sunday in Wittlich, Germany.
- 2019 Jan 02
Lesser-Known Literary Losses of 2018
Many big-name figures from the literary world died in 2018. Here are some of the under-sung writers who died last year.
- 2018 Nov 26
Meena Alexander Dies at 67
The Indian-American poet, essayist, scholar, and PEN Open Book Award winner died last Wednesday in New York.
- 2018 Nov 12
Juris Jurjevics Dies at 75
The cofounder, with Laura Chapman Hruska and her husband, Alan, of independent publisher Soho Press, died on Wednesday in the Bronx.
- 2018 Nov 08
Christopher Lehmann-Haupt Dies at 84
The former literary critic for the 'New York Times,' who wrote some 4,000 reviews and essays over 31 years, died yesterday in Manhattan.
- 2018 Nov 05
Judith Kazantzis Dies at 78
In a career that spanned nearly four decades, feminist poet Kazantzis, who died on September 18, published 12 collections, numerous essays, and a novel.
- 2018 Oct 25
Tony Hoagland Dies at 64
The widely admired poet, who could be both humorous and heartfelt, often in the same poem, died on Tuesday at his home in Santa Fe, N.M.
- 2018 Oct 18
Anthea Bell Dies at 82
The translator opened up a world of literature to English readers, translating writers from Sigmund Freud to Cornelia Funke.
- 2018 Sep 28
Batman Artist Norm Breyfogle Dies
Breyfogle, 58, defined the look of the Caped Crusader in a post–Frank Miller era.
- 2018 Aug 20
John Calder Dies at 91
The independent British publisher built a prestigious list of authors and spiritedly defended such writers as Henry Miller against censorship.
- 2018 Aug 13
Anya Krugovoy Silver Dies at 49
The poet, after receiving a diagnosis of advanced breast cancer in 2004, wrote powerful lyrical verse on illness and mortality.
- 2018 Aug 10
Burt Britton Dies at 84
The former Strand bookseller, book collector, and idiosyncratic New York personality died at his apartment in Manhattan late last month.
- 2018 Jul 25
Anne Olivier Bell Dies at 102
The editor of the diaries of Virginia Woolf and a rare surviving link to the Bloomsbury Group died on July 18 at her home in Firle, England.
- 2018 Jun 11
Ira Berlin Dies at 77
The historian, whose research and books helped reveal the complexities of American slavery and its aftermath, died on Tuesday in Washington.
- 2018 Jun 08
CNN Eulogizes Anthony Bourdain
In its obiturary, CNN called the chef, entertainer, and author "a gifted storyteller and writer who took CNN viewers around the world."
- 2018 May 21
Bobbie Louise Hawkins Dies at 87
The Beat poet and novelist, whose work was inspired by her Texas childhood and difficult marriage to Robert Creeley, died on May 4 in Boulder, Colo.
Bernard Lewis Dies at 101
The scholar of Middle Eastern history whose controversial work profoundly shaped Western views of the region died in New Jersey on May 19.
- 2018 May 14
Remembering Peter Mayer
Tributes from former colleagues of the book publishing titan have poured in over the weekend.
Adam Parfrey Dies at 61
Parfrey's Feral House publishing company was a resource for underground, extreme, and what some may consider "forbidden" knowledge.
- 2018 May 08
Edwin G. Burrows Dead at 74
The Brooklyn College professor who shared the Pulitzer Prize for 'Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898,' died on Friday.
- 2018 Apr 20
Sergio Pitol Dies at 85
The essayist, translator, and prolific author, recognized for breaking barriers between genres, died in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico on April 12.
- 2018 Apr 02
Elizabeth Ebert Dies at 93
The "grand dame cowboy poetry" died on March 20, her wedding anniversary, at a hospital in Bismarck, N.D., after breaking a hip.
- 2018 Mar 30
Anita Shreve Dies at 71
The author of 'The Pilot's Wife' and 'The Weight of Water' died of cancer Thursday in her home in southern New Hampshire.
- 2018 Mar 26
Philip Kerr Dies at 62
The writer was best known for his crime fiction books featuring the Berlin private detective Bernie Gunther.
- 2018 Mar 22
Barbara Wersba Dies at 85
The author, whose candid YA books were among the first to explore topics like alcoholism and same-sex relationships, died on Feb. 18 in Englewood, N.J.
- 2018 Mar 14
Obituary: Stephen Hawking
The brilliant physicist, cosmologist and author, Stephen Hawking, has died at 76
- 2018 Mar 08
Poet Lucie Brock-Broido Dead at 61
The prize-winning poet and educator, who was the author of four poetry books, died this week at her home in Cambridge, Mass.
- 2018 Mar 06
Russ Solomon Dies at 92
The entrepreneur, who built Tower Records into a global business and pioneered a new way to sell music (and books), died at his home near Sacramento.
- 2018 Mar 01
Raymond Danowski Dies at 74
The owner of 75,000 volumes of verse, believed to be the largest private library of 20th-century poetry in English, died at home last month.
- 2018 Feb 07
Claribel Alegría Dies at 93
The poet, who wrote of the harsh realities of Central American life and the search for identity and hope, died on January 25 in the Nicaraguan capital.
- 2018 Jan 26
Bob Smith Dies at 59
The first openly gay comic to perform on 'The Tonight Show' and author of both fiction and nonfiction books died on Jan. 20 at his home in Manhattan.
- 2018 Jan 24
Nicanor Parra Dies at 103
The Chilean poet who pioneered the literary movement that became known as anti-poetry, died on Tuesday in Santiago, Chile.
- 2018 Jan 19
Peter Mayle Dies at 78
The author of sex-ed books for children and the bestselling travel memoir 'A Year in Provence' died yesterday at a hospital in Southern France.
- 2018 Jan 05
Readers, Booksellers Remember Bass
The Strand bookstore owner passed away this week at the age of 89, and online, many posted to remember his legacy.
- 2017 Dec 18
Bette Howland Dies at 80
The Saul Bellow acolyte wrote three well-regarded books in the 1970s and early ’80s then faded from the literary scene, only to be rediscovered recently.
- 2017 Dec 08
William Gass Dead at 93
The leading 1960s and '70s experimental writer, who went on to become an award-winning essayist and translator, died on Wednesday.
- 2017 Nov 06
Nancy Friday Dies at 84
The author, whose books about gender politics helped redefine American women’s sexuality and social identity, died on Sunday at her home in Manhattan.
- 2017 Oct 30
Jane Juska Dies at 84
The author, whose chronicle of searching for sex as a woman in her 60s became a best-selling memoir, died at a California care facility after a long illness.
- 2017 Oct 18
Marian Cannon Schlesinger Dies at 105
The artist, author, and eyewitness to history in the Kennedy White House died on Saturday at her home in Cambridge, Mass.
- 2017 Oct 16
Richard Wilbur Dies at 96
The poet, who won two Pulitzer Prizes and served as the national poet laureate, died on Saturday in Belmont, Mass.
- 2017 Oct 02
S.I. Newhouse Dies at 89
The Condé Nast chairman and former owner of Random House died on Sunday.
- 2017 Sep 29
Kit Reed Dies at 85
The prolific novelist and short-story writer of science fiction, fantasy, Southern Gothic, paranormal, and mystery novels, died on Sunday in L.A.
- 2017 Sep 21
Lillian Ross Dies at 99
The literary journalism pioneer wrote in a tone that was acutely observant, intimate, and amused, which helped to shape the 'New Yorker' of today.
- 2017 Sep 14
J.P. Donleavy Dies at 91
The expatriate American author, whose 1955 novel 'The Ginger Man' shook up the literary world, died on Monday at a hospital near his home in Ireland.
- 2017 Sep 11
Len Wein Dies at 69
The influential comic book writer and editor co-created characters including Swamp Thing and Wolverine.
- 2017 Sep 07
Kate Millett Dies at 82
Kate Millett, whose 1970 book, 'Sexual Politics,' made her “the principal theoretician of the women’s liberation movement,” died on Wednesday in Paris.
- 2017 Sep 01
Susand Vreeland Dies at 71
The author of a string of novels about artists, several of which became bestsellers, died in San Diego on August 23.
- 2017 Aug 02
Judith Jones Dies at 93
The editor who brought us both 'The Diary of Anne Frank' and the cookbooks of Julia Child died on August 2 at her summer home in Walden, Vt.
- 2017 Aug 01
Geoffrey Godfrey Dies at 80
The poet and editor published more than a dozen collections of his own poetry and was joint editor of the Greville Press with Harold Pinter.
- 2017 Jul 14
Irina Ratushinskaya Dies at 63
The indomitable Soviet dissident poet and novelist, who delivered a singular woman’s perspective on the gulag, died on July 5 in Moscow.
- 2017 Jul 13
Liu Xiaobo Dies at 61
The Nobel Peace Prize–winning Chinese intellectual and author kept vigil on Tiananmen Square in 1989 and served 11 years in jail as a result.
- 2017 Jul 10
Spencer Johnson Dies at 78
The author who left a medical career to write books about life and business, including the bestseller 'Who Moved My Cheese?,' died last week in San Diego.
- 2017 Jul 06
Heathcote Williams Dies at 75
The poet and polymath, who helped form an anarchist nation and pilloried the British establishment for half a century, died on Saturday in Oxford.
- 2017 Jun 28
Paddington Bear Creator Dies
Michael Bond, the creator of beloved children's character and book series Paddington Bear, has died at the age of 91.
- 2017 Jun 19
Richard K. McCullough Dies at 67
The longtime publishing executive, including with Millbrook Press, died at home on June 15.
- 2017 Jun 14
James Galton Dies at 92
The former president and CEO of Marvel Entertainment Group has been credited with saving the company from bankruptcy in the 1970s.
- 2017 Jun 12
Edith Shiffert Dies at 101
An American poet whose work was profoundly influenced by the half-century she spent in Japan died on March 1 in Kyoto.
- 2017 Jun 08
Charles Simmons Dies at 92
Simmons, whose five acclaimed novels included a savage sendup of 'The New York Times Book Review,' died on June 1 in Manhattan.
- 2017 May 29
Ann Birstein Dies at 89
The memoirist and novelist often wrote of her roots as a New York rabbi's daughter and turbulent marriage to critic Alfred Kazin.
- 2017 May 22
Anne R. Dick Dies at 90
The former wife of science-fiction author Philip K. Dick, and a memoirist in her own right, died last month.
- 2017 Apr 03
Richard Bolles Dies at 90
The author of 'What Color Is Your Parachute?,' the most popular job-hunter’s manual of the 1970s and beyond, died on Friday in San Ramon, Calif.
Yevgeny Yevtushenko Dies at 83
The acclaimed Russian poet, whose work denounced war atrocities, anti-Semitism, and tyrannical dictators, died on Saturday in Tulsa, Okla.
- 2017 Mar 30
William McPherson Dies at 84
The novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic for 'The Washington Post' died on Tuesday in Washington.
William Powell Dies at 66
The author of 'The Anarchist Cookbook,' a diagram- and recipe-filled manifesto of do-it-yourself warfare, has died of a heart attack.
- 2017 Mar 28
Christina Vella Dies at 75
The author of several colorful works of narrative history died of cancer on Wednesday in New Orleans.
- 2017 Mar 24
Beat Poet Joanne Kyger Dies at 82
Kyger, a poet of the San Francisco Renaissance and a rare female voice of the male-dominated Beat generation, died at home on March 22.
- 2017 Mar 07
Nancy Willard Dies At 80
The prolific author, whose 70 books of poems and fiction enchanted children and adults alike, died on Feb. 19 at her home in Poughkeepsie.
- 2017 Mar 06
Paula Fox Dies At 93
Fox, whose work illuminated lives filled with loss, dislocation, and abandonment, died last Wednesday in Brooklyn.
- 2017 Feb 24
Joyce Whisperer Frank Delaney Dies At 74
The Irish-born author and broadcaster, whose passion was deconstructing James Joyce's 'Ulysses,' died in Danbury, Conn., on Tuesday.
- 2017 Feb 23
Poet Thomas Lux Dies At 70
Lux, a poet who used spare, direct language to express the absurdities and sorrows of human life, died on Feb. 5 at his home in Atlanta.
- 2017 Jan 27
Buchi Emecheta Dies at 72
The pioneering Nigerian novelist wrote 20 novels that mined her experience as a black single mother in Britain.
- 2017 Jan 17
Zhou Youguang Dies at 111
The inventor of a system to convert Chinese characters into words with the Roman alphabet died on Saturday.
- 2017 Jan 03
John Berger Dies At 90
The Booker-prize-winning novelist and critic helped transform the way a generation looked at and perceived art.
- 2016 Dec 14
E. R. Braithwaite Dies at 104
The Guyanese author, diplomat, and former Royal Air Force pilot and author of 'To Sir, With Love' died on Monday in Rockville, Md.
Shirley Hazzard Dies at 85
The novelist, who wrote 'The Transit of Venus' and 'The Great Fire' and won the National Book Award, has died in New York.
- 2016 Dec 08
Bookseller Robert Wilson Dies at 94
Wilson, who died in Baltimore on November 29, turned Greenwich Village's Phoenix Book Shop into a home for poets such as Allen Ginsberg.
- 2016 Nov 29
Jim Munro Dies at 87
The co-founder of the Victoria, B.C.-based Munro's Books championed Canadian authors, and gave his business to longtime staff members.
- 2016 Nov 22
Irish Writer William Trevor Dead at 88
The three-time winner of the Whitbread prize and author of more than 15 novels and many short stories has died.
- 2016 Nov 11
Leonard Cohen Dies at 82
Weeks after alluding to his death in an interview with David Remnick, the Canadian songwriter and author has died.
- 2016 Oct 27
Poet Lucia Perillo Dies at 58
Perillo, who wrote about mortality and was published by Copper Canyon Press, died on Oct. 16 at her home in Olympia, Wash.
- 2016 Oct 21
Joyce Carol Oates Remembers Thom Jones
On the writer whose stories on boxing, crime, and the Vietnam War "thrummed with his distinctive, idiosyncratic voice."
- 2016 Oct 19
Thom Jones Dies at 71
The janitor turned author, author of 'The Pugilist at Rest,' once burst from obscurity to become an idiosyncratic literary sensation.
- 2016 Oct 17
Bob Minzesheimer Dies at 66
The longtime journalist who wrote about books and authors for 'USA Today' for years died on October 15.
- 2016 Oct 06
Rare Book Dealer Murdered
A book dealer in England was recently stabbed to death, allegedly over the man’s rare first-edition copy of 'The Wind In The Willows.'
- 2016 Oct 04
Gloria Naylor Dies at 66
The award-winning author of 'The Women of Brewster Place' died in the Virgin Islands on September 28.
- 2016 Sep 26
Symphony Space's Katherine Minton Dies
The producer of programs including 'Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story' died on September 21.
- 2016 Sep 19
Edward Albee is Dead at 88
The author of 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' was widely considered the foremost American playwright of his generation.
- 2016 Aug 26
Remembering Max Ritvo
The poet died on Tuesday after succumbing to a rare cancer, and is remembered here by Milkweed publisher and CEO Daniel Slager.
- 2016 Aug 25
Bonnie R. Crown Dies at 88
The agent, writer, and lecturer who shepherded the translation of books from Asia died of natural causes on Aug. 17.
- 2016 Aug 10
Richard Krinsley Dies at 86
The longtime Scholastic and Random House executive died on July 28 after a brief illness.
- 2016 Aug 05
Elliot Tiber Dies at 81
The artist, gay rights activist, and writer chronicled his role in Woodstock in ‘Taking Woodstock.’
- 2016 Aug 04
Mel Hurtig Dies at 84
The Edmonton bookseller, publisher and activist is remembered as a fierce nationalist and devoted father who published 'The Canadian Encyclopedia.'
- 2016 Jul 05
Elie Wiesel Dies at 87
The Auschwitz survivor, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and author of 'Night' died at his home in Manhattan on July 2.
- 2016 Jun 30
Alvin Toffler Dies at 87
The author wrote “Future Shock,” the first in a trilogy of best-selling books that forecast how society would contend with accelerating change in the late 20th century.
- 2016 Jun 28
Cormac McCarthy Death News a Hoax
The author's publisher has confirmed that a Tweet claiming McCarthy died of a stroke was sent from a fraudulent Knopf account.
- 2016 Jun 27
Austin Clarke Dies at 81
The award-winning Barbadian-born author of 'The Polished Hoe' and 'Membering' died on June 26.
- 2016 Jun 07
Author and War Journo David Lamb Dies
The Vietnam War correspondent for the 'Los Angeles Times' and author of 'Vietnam, Now: A Reporter Returns' dies at 76.
- 2016 May 16
Darwyn Cooke Dies at 53
The award-winning DC Comics illustrator, whose take on Catwoman is still widely influential today, died of cancer on May 14.
